Jomon Flat Clay Figure

Sannai Maruyama Site Museum
Aomori, Japan

The museum's presentation of this startling clay figure is greatly enhanced by dramatic lighting. It is so dramatic as to be, in my view, positively misleading. As explained on the previous page, we don't know exactly who or what the figure represents, although it is a good bet that she is female, and that her open mouth represents someone who is singing or chanting (not screaming, as you might first imagine!)